Dunfermline 1 Airdrieonians 1
Saturday, 26th Sep 2015Ladbrokes League One: Paton and Talbot out, McCabe and McAusland in. George Hunter (18) 0-1; Michael Moffat (74) 1-1
Allan Johnston was keen that his side took their good form at Tannadice in Tuesday night's Scottish League cup tie into this league match. It was second placed Dunfermline v fourth placed Airdrieonians.
After going over on his ankle in training on Friday Michael Paton was sidelined meaning Rhys McCabe came in for his starting debut. Jason Talbot was rested and that made room for Thursday signing, Marc McAusland to partner former Diamond Ben Richards-Everton in the centre of defence with Lewis Martin returning to left back.
Airdrieonians made one change from the side beaten at home by Ayr United the previous Saturday, George Hunter started in place of Caolan McAleer.
Visiting keeper Neil Parry was the first involved in any serious action rising well to clutch a McCabe cross out of the air at the edge of his six yard box. Then in fifth minute Faissal El Bakhtaoui robbed Sean Crighton of possession on the top of the Airdrieonians box only to fire his shot narrowly over the crossbar.
More traffic towards the Airdrieonians goal was started by Joe Cardle but when he laid the ball off for Byrne to prod a through ball into the path of Ryan Wallace his pace was just a little to fast to control. The Diamonds only chance within the opening ten minutes came from a cross to the far post but Murdoch held Hunter's headed effort.
A defence splitting pass from McCabe let Byrne in on the right but Scott Smith slid in to deny the Pars midfielder a clear shot and Parry held with ease. In 14th minute Liam Watt won the first corner of the game off Andy Geggan but Murdoch fisted away Watt's cross.
Having dominated the play for the opening ten minutes the Pars let Airdrie get the feel of going forward and they created a couple of chances. Wallace had a shot beaten away off Chris O'Neil but Airdrieonians hit on the break with David Cox's ball to HUNTER in 18 minutes finding the net from an acute angle on the right. 0-1
Martin made Parry save from his 20 yard drive and then from a 25th minute Wallace corner Geggan got a flick but the ball travelled through the six yard box only for Alan Lithgow to clear. McCabe did no better from a free kick 25 yards out sending the ball over the Airdrie crossbar.
Play got parked in the opposition half either side of the half hour mark but the defence dealt with a couple of McCabe crosses and starved Dunfermline of any shooting opportunities. Geggan tried a chip to the far post but that was scrambled clear before Wallace could press.
Joe Cardle had the ball in the net in 37th minute heading home a McCabe shot that was deflected off a defender. The Pars man was flagged offside so there was nothing yet to celebrate. Back at the other end Airdrie should have netted when Cox's cross went behind Hunter running in front of goal.
A 44th minute free kick was blasted into the Pars wall by Watt before the Pars were awarded a free kick 40 yards out after Smith brought down Wallace but Cardle sent that into the stand. So the interval came with a deficit of one goal despite 55:45 possession in the home side's favour.
Half Time: Dunfermline 0 Airdrieonians 1
Mickael Antoine-Curier replaced Shaun Byrne for the restart but the management's new plan was soon disrupted by a back injury to Josh Falkingham and he had to go off making way for Michael Moffat. Moff gave the McCathie stand great hope with a strong run tpwards them in 52 minutes but he ran out of ground. Then within a minute he forced Parry to touch his effort over the crossbar after Geggan had produced a good cross in from the right.
In 55 minutes a Cardle cross from the left took a deflection and bounced just outside the right goalpost. Moffat continued to enjoy lots of possession deep inside the opposition box at times Richards-Everton was up there too but there was only a corner to show for it.
On the hour Moffat fed a great ball to Antoine-Curier with a great chance but Parry came out and managed to stop him albeit rather unconventionally. The home side again played the game in the opposition half but Airdrie left only Taylor Morgan on half way as they prevented any penetration by the Fifers.
An El Bakhtaoui shot from 20 yards whizzed by the right goalpost and a Cardle cross was booted away before in 74th minute Geggan first timed a return for MOFFAT to head in at the far post. 1-1
Just three minutes later Antoine-Curier burst towards goal. Parry met him on the edge of the box and Crighton shoulder charged the Pars man away. Antoine-Curier tried a snapshot in 80th minute but that escaped wide left.
McCabe delivered a fine ball into the box but Moffat's header again went outside that left upright. The turquoise shirted Airdrie keeper wasted time at every opportunity.
Cox and McAusland required the physios to come on again in 90th minute but when they and the play continued! Antoine-Curier had one final chance to be the match winner but Parry held his effort.
The Pars stats showed even more possession in the second half and in the end Dunfermline had 8 corners to Airdrieonians 2 but it's goals that win games and the teams could not be separated this time.
DUNFERMLINE: Sean Murdoch; Andy Geggan (c), Lewis Martin, Ben Richards-Everton, Jason Talbot; Rhys McCabe, Shaun Byrne (Mickael Antoine-Curier HT), Josh Falkingham (Michael Moffat 51), Joe Cardle; Ryan Wallace, Faissal El Bakhtaoui.
SUBS NOT USED: Jason Talbot, Lewis Spence, James Thomas, John Potter, David Hutton (GK).
SCORERS: Moffat (73)
AIRDRIEONIANS: Neil Parry; Jamie Bain, Sean Crighton, Alan Lithgow, Chris O'Neil, Liam Watt, Scott Smith, Marc Fitzpatrick (c), George Hunter (Jordan Morton 63), David Cox, Taylor Morgan (Caolan McAleer 89).
SUBS NOT USED: Bryan Prunty, Nicolas Sumsky, Adam Brown, Scott Stewart, Rohan Ferguson (GK)
SCORERS: Hunter (18)
YELLOW CARD: O'Neil (96)
REFEREE: John McKendrick
WEATHER: Overcast 16C
ATTENDANCE 3391
NEXT MATCH: Ladbrokes League One (home) v Albion Rovers
Saturday 3rd October 2015, kick off 3.00pm
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Preview Airdrieonians
Saturday, 26th Sep 2015The Pars have only won one of the last six meetings, that was a 3-0 win at home in August last year.
Airdrieonians visit East End Park on Saturday in search of a win that would take them level on points with their hosts. Meanwhile, the Pars who have won nine of their 12 matches this season are also looking upwards hoping to regain the top spot from Ayr United.
In all their guises the Lanarkshire club have always been fairly close to Dunfermline, there have been 109 league games with Airdrie having 39 wins and the Pars 39.
|
Pars v Airdrie:
The Full League Record |
||||||
|
|
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
|
At
|
56 |
24 |
18 |
14 |
94 |
85 |
|
At Airdrie |
53 |
15 |
13 |
26 |
83 |
115 |
| League One | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 12 |
|
Division
One (up to 1975) |
42 |
19 |
6 |
17 |
83 |
90 |
|
Division
Two (up to 1975) |
12 |
1 |
3 |
8 |
24 |
42 |
|
Premier
League (since 1975) |
4 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
8 |
|
First
Division (since 1975) |
43 |
16 |
20 |
7 |
53 |
48 |
|
TOTALS |
109 |
39 |
31 |
39 |
177 |
200 |
The Pars have only won one of the last six meetings, that was a 3-0 win at home in August last year. That day the Pars were two up at half time thanks to goals from Gozie Ugwu and Michael Moffat before Gozie added a third nine minutes from full time. The 3-1 defeat at Airdrie in December came through goals from Bryan Prunty (3), Nathan Blockley (55), and Marc Fitzpatrick 3-0 with Gregor Buchanan scoring a late goal against the club he left in the summer to come to East End Park.
The next two meetings yielded only one point from a 2-2 draw at East End Park. James Lister put the Diamonds one up after only ten minutes, a Ross Millen penalty got the Pars back level before Bryan Gilfillan restored the visitors lead in 11th minute of the second half. Michael Moffat's equaliser fifteen minutes from time saved a point for John Potter's team.
Then in the last match of the season a last minute goal at the Excelsior Stadium won the
game for Airdrieonians. Andy Geggan had put the Pars ahead, Jordan Morton equalised, Bob McHugh made it 2-1 just after the break but Josh Falkingham equalised only to be undone by another from McHugh at the end.
Of the last dozen meetings Dunfermline have won four, Airdrie six and two games have been drawn.
| Last twelve meetings | ||||
| 2014/2015 | ||||
| First Division | Airdrieonians | 3-2 | Dunfermline | 02/05/15 |
| First Division | Dunfermline | 2-2 | Airdrieonians | 17/01/15 |
| First Division | Airdrieonians | 3-1 | Dunfermline | 13/12/14 |
| First Division | Dunfermline | 3-0 | Airdrieonians | 23/08/14 |
| 2013/2014 | ||||
| First Division | Airdrie United | 2-0 | Dunfermline | 05/04/14 |
| First Division | Dunfermline | 0-1 | Airdrie United | 18/01/14 |
| First Division | Airdrie United | 0-3 | Dunfermline | 16/11/13 |
| First Division | Dunfermline | 2-1 | Airdrie United | 21/09/13 |
| 2012/2013 | ||||
| First Division | Dunfermline | 1-2 | Airdrie United | 04/05/13 |
| First Division | Airdrie United | 3-3 | Dunfermline | 09/03/13 |
| First Division | Dunfermline | 1-3 | Airdrie United | 12/01/13 |
| First Division | Airdrie United | 1-2 | Dunfermline | 25/08/12 |
| Dunfermline | Airdrieonians |
| Current League Position | |
| 2 | 4 |
| League Points | |
| 15 | 12 |
| Goal Difference | |
| +19 | +2 |
| Recent League form | |
| WLWWLW | LWWWWL |
| League Record | |
| P7, W5, D0, L2 | P7, W4, D0, L3 |
Airdrieonians defeat at home last weekend to Ayr United was their first defeat in the last six games. So far this season only Forfar Athletic and Stenhousemuir have taken full points off them.
| Form last six league games | ||||||
| Dunfermline | Airdrieonians | |||||
| Stenhousemuir (A) | W | 5-0 | Ayr United (H) | L | 1-2 | |
| Ayr United (H) | L |
0-2 |
Albion Rovers (A) | W | 3-1 | |
| Forfar Athletic (A) | W | 4-0 | Cowdenbeath (H) | W | 3-2 | |
| Stranraer (H) | W | 3-1 | Peterhead (H) | W | 1-0 | |
| Peterhead (A) | L | 1-2 | Brechin City (A) | W |
2-1 |
|
| Cowdenbeath (H) | W | 7-1 | Stenhousemuir (A) | L |
1-2 |
|
Last Time Out
DUNFERMLINE (v Dundee United): Sean Murdoch; Andy Geggan (c), Lewis Martin, Ben Richards-Everton, Jason Talbot (Rhys McCabe 81); Michael Paton, Shaun Byrne (David Hopkirk 91), Joe Cardle; Ryan Wallace (Michael Moffat 67), Faissal El Bakhtaoui.
SUBS NOT USED: Mickael Antoine-Curier, James Thomas, John Potter, David Hutton (GK).
AIRDRIEONIANS (v Ayr United): Neil Parry; Jamie Bain, Sean Crighton, Alan Lithgow, Chris O'Neil (Bryan Prunty 99), Liam Watt, Scott Smith, Marc Fitzpatrick, Caolan McAleer (Nicolas Sumsky 88), David Cox, Taylor Morgan (George Hunter 80).
SUBS NOT USED: Nicky Cadden, Adam Brown, Scott Stewart, Rohan Ferguson (GK)
Gary Bollan will be without David Van Zanten and Jim Lister while Taylor Morgan will be assessed after his injury last week. Jordan Morton and Kevin McBride may return to the squad for selection.
Referee will be John McKendrick.
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